Rapeseed honey

Miel de colza

What it is

Its glucose load is so high that it will set solid inside the comb if the beekeeper is slow: the frames have to come off within days of capping or the honey must be cut out rather than spun. French producers turned the defect into the product, whipping it as it crystallises to make crème de miel.

In the kitchen

If a jar has set coarse and sandy, warm it to about 40 °C, stir in a spoonful of already-creamed honey and let it cool slowly — that seeds a fine crystal. Never take it past 45 °C, which melts the seed and gives you a jar that sets gritty again.

Goes with

Butter Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Oats Almond Buckwheat flour

Same species

Baek-kimchi Broccoli Brussels sprout Cabbage Cauliflower Cavolo nero

In season alongside

Broad bean Halibut Pak choi Pointed cabbage Acacia honey Pauillac lamb

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us